Two campus theaters to close down this fall

The final credits are rolling for two local movie theaters -- the United Artists Campus theatre on 40th Street and the AMC Walnut Mall 3 theatre at 39th and Walnut streets. Both have announced that they will shut down, Associate Treasurer Christopher Mason said. The United Artists theater will close at the end of the month when its lease expires, and the AMC theater will remain in operation until its contract ends in November, he said. Mason said the theaters, which are popular among students because of their discounted movie tickets, are closing because they can not keep up with competition from larger theaters in the area. The recent construction of the United Artists Riverview Plaza theater and the United Artists 69th Street theater -- both of which have the capacity to show at least 10 movies at a time -- has translated into less revenue for the campus cinemas, he said. "Larger theaters are doing better," Mason said. "More small theaters aren't making it." There has been wide-ranging speculation about which companies will fill the theater sites. Mason said the sites could remain unoccupied for an unspecified amount of time following the closings. A new cinema might move into one of the sites, Mason said, but he added, "I don't think you'll see two different movie houses [again]." A source from United Artists said, though, that a new theater would probably not fill one of the old sites, but would open "on the other side of the Schuylkill within walking distance." The source added that the theater would house more movies than the current campus cinemas, and would offer "a variety of films." According to Mason, these films may be turn out to be artsy and foreign movies, because the Ritz Theatres -- a Center City company known primarily for screening non-commercial, artistic films -- is one of the companies which has expressed interest in expanding into the University City property. Mason said, though, that the University is only "talking" to Ritz -- "They haven't signed anything," he said. Still, Jay Ayrton, the general manager of Ritz Theatres, said Ritz will definitely not move into University City. The loss of the two theaters follows the recent exodus of stores from the Shops At Penn at 3401 Walnut Street. The Italian Bistro restaurant, Quantum Books, Perfect Pretzel and The Lodge have each shut down over the past few months. Mason said last month that despite the closings, the University's status among retailers as a strong market is still intact. "There are 30,000 square feet of retail space on this campus," he said. "And 90 to 95 percent of it is occupied."